Cooking with Tony Stark
by Lilla-Weneda
Summary: Tony and Loki's relationship is at a very delicate place and to avoid declarations, Tony cooks for Loki.


Pesto alla genovese

Tony had a brilliant plan how to avoid culinary disaster on his first ever dinner with Loki. A huge glass of wine before the cooking even began would do the trick. Loki, excited beyond measure by their official first date, joined Tony in the kitchen and did not offer to help, of course. He was a prince and never had to bother with preparing food. That was a commoners' job and Tony was a commoner, even if a bit unusual.

'I haven't had a lunch today,' Loki informed Tony, who wondered how much water he needed to

boil two portions of spaghetti. 'So I can really appreciate the result of your cooking skills.'

'Those that I don't possess?' Tony smirked and finally decided to use plenty of water. He could

improvise and Loki would be too tipsy to notice.

'You're a genius, you claim, now prove it. I'll just sit here and wait for my dinner. I hope you

remembered I want that green sauce, not the tomato one,' Loki reminded. His love for the colour green was absolutely serious.

Tony added two handfuls of spaghetti to the boiling water and set the timer, then moved to the

washed and dried fresh basil leaves. He did forget about pine nuts and had to skip garlic because Loki hated it.

'Shouldn't you stir the pasta?' Loki asked, merely to distract Tony, so he could steal a handful of

walnuts, the replacement of the pine nuts.

'I should' Tony replied as he went to check on the pasta. It seemed fine, maybe one or two pieces stuck to the bottom of the pot but Loki couldn't have known that. 'Everything's going great.'

Loki nodded, too content to argue. He had all he wanted- his Midgardian and the promise of a

delicious meal. He watched, mesmerised, as Tony blended basil leaves and nuts with a splash of

olive oil. The consistency was perfect, in Tony's opinion and it tasted... very fresh and only a bit

strange.

'Looks perfect,' Loki praised Tony's effort. 'I'm so hungry right now. But where's cheese?'

Cheese? There's cheese in pesto alla genovese? Fuck! 'You add cheese later,' Tony said casually.

'Right before serving.'

'Uh-umm.'

The only cheese Tony had was mozzarella. That would do. He sliced it thinly, then changed his

mind and chopped it. Loki observed it with a smug grin on his face, either he totally knew what a culinary crime Tony was about to commit, or was already drunk.

'Tell me, what else can you cook?'

'Er, hmm. Scrambled eggs.' Kind of.

Loki leant towards him, resting his elbows on the counter. 'How about soup?'

'What kind of soup?' Tony sensed trouble, lots of it.

'Vegetable soup. You know, the one that you blend at the end, a smooth vegetable soup,' Loki

explained innocently, even though it was totally a trap. He didn't mean a creamy tomato soup but baby food. The first solids, pureed carrots patiently fed to a pudgy baby. Tony was right, Loki wanted not only to hear 'I love you' but also, 'Let's have a baby.'

'I can... learn how to make that, I guess,' Tony replied after a suspiciously long pause. It sounded better than _oh my God, Loki, I'm not ready to be a dad!_

Loki gulped down the rest of his wine, satisfied. 'Fantastic. Next time, I want that soup of

pumpkin. With spices.'

Oh. So, that was not a veiled question about the possibility of them procreating together. Loki just knew it was nearly the time for the pumpkin harvest. Hmm.

Tony busied himself with checking on the pasta and draining it. He put it back into the pot, added the pesto and stirred carefully. He served Loki a bigger portion and sprinkled it with mozzarella.

Tony was right. Wine clouded Loki's judgement and he complimented Tony's cooking. Actually,

he wasn't wrong, Tony decided as he tried his own creation. He used to think the green pesto is

gross, a source made of mostly fresh basil and olive oil? Bleh. Until he tried his own version of it. Together with wine and good company, it was amazing. Loki chomped his pasta enthusiastically, moaning in pleasure and seemed happy. That was worth remembering, to lift Loki's spirits all Tony needed was a comforting, homemade meal.

'Should I ask you how was your day?' Loki was almost done and only then did he remember they were supposed to talk as well.

'I can't complain,' Tony replied. Especially now, he thought. That evening was better than he

imagined. 'How are things in Asgard?'

'I showed Sleipnir a new path in the woods and he loved it.'

'That'a great.' Tony was extra cautious, as always when Sleipnir was mentioned. Loki had issues

with his extraordinary son and who knew what he would find offensive? Was Tony supposed to

treat the eight-legged horse like a child? Maybe, just to be on the safe side.

Afterwards, Loki rubbed his stomach and remarked how huge he felt. 'I think I ate too much, but it was so good.' He stroked his belly even more. Damn, he really hinted he wanted to have Tony's baby. This time for real.

'I think,' Tony began, to fill the silence, not knowing what he was going to say. _Stop touching_

 _your belly! We'll have enough problems with Sleipnir, we can't have a baby just yet!_

'Sorry to interrupt, but where's the dessert?'

'What?'

'Ice cream.'

That was easier to manage than the conversation about the cons of bringing a new life into the

world. A huge scoop of vanilla ice cream would take Loki's mind off the hypothetical Stark

junior. For now.

Pumpkin soup

When Loki suggested pumpkin soup, it was still summer, too bright and too hot for a warming,

autumnal meal. Tony had enough time to find a simple recipe. Loki demanded cooking from

scratch and Tony considered that a challenge. He would even make his own pumpkin spice, all he needed was... er, cinnamon for sure and... black pepper? He gave in and checked it. Ah, dried

ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cardamon and cloves. Easy. Easier than picking the right pumpkin. Tony wished he had done it alone but Loki insisted and it took them hours to choose the most tastylooking pumpkin.

'Damn it, Lokes, it doesn't matter how it looks. I'll bake it and throw the skin away,' Tony

explained, sounding way too experienced than he really was. Buying pumpkin puree was a

simpler option but Loki wanted fresh ingredients.

'How about this one?' Loki started touching in a very sensual manner a particularly nice pumpkin. 'Feels firm. Is that what we want?'

Tony had no idea but wanted to move to the next part already. 'Yes. We'll take this one.'

A lazy person pumpkin puree recipe is to cut a pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, put on the

baking tray skin up and bake for an hour, then remove the skin and voilà. Loki expected the smell of baked pumpkin to be similar to pumpkin-scented candles and was sorely disappointed. To keep him busy and limit his complaining, Tony assigned him to mix the spices. Loki loved it, particularly the aroma of cardamon. Tony went through the mental list of ingredients for the soup. Heavy cream, one onion, chicken broth that he pretend he made all by himself. Nothing stressful about simply mixing all the ingredients together, Tony reassured himself.

When the pumpkin was almost done, Tony chopped the onion and cooked it for a couple of

minutes. Then he removed the tray from the oven, carefully removed the skin, revealing pumpkin puree. The exciting part was about to begin. He put the onion in a pot, followed by the broth, the puree, two teaspoons of the spice and let it simmer. Loki stirred the soup gently, while Tony prepared the cream. He added one tablespoon of the soup to the cream, stirred and added to the soup.

'What a lovely colour,' Loki smiled. 'Like autumn leaves.'

The last thing to do was to blend the soup, Loki was not an enthusiast of large chunks of cooked

onion. He preferred perfectly smooth soups and Tony saw no reason to refuse him.

Meanwhile, it started raining heavily. Days were shorter and colder, summer was truly gone.

Nothing cosier on such a dark day than a bowl of steaming, warming soup. Tony felt pride when

Loki loudly expressed his appreciation. The soup was better than Tony expected and for the

second evening that month, they behaved like a normal couple. That fuzzy, warm sensation in

Tony's chest, what was it?

'Oh my goodness.' Loki finished his soup and only the royal background prevented him from

licking the bowl clean. 'This was amazing. The spices really, umm, spiced up the taste. I feel so... what's the word? Content?'

'I kind of want to snuggle with you under a fluffy blanket,' Tony said and to his surprise, he meant it. Spending time together with Loki was something he looked forward to, even when they didn't have sex. That has never happened before and he feared to name the emotions Loki made him feel. It was too good and still too fragile.

'Let's do that, let's snuggle. We can go to Asgard, I have luxurious blankets and my bed is wider

than yours,' Loki tempted. 'Just the two of us and a long, autumn night.'

He was more sentimental than he thought. Tony didn't want to ruin the mood by wondering if

they were going too fast. He did what he wanted and that was to be with Loki. All the omplications and differences were immaterial. Focus on the present moment, Tony told himself, enjoy it.

Masala chai latte

Loki was the only person Tony knew who loved November. The colourful part of autumn passed already and they entered the dark, sorrowful period between the last golden and red leaves and the first snow. Most people hate that time of the year and begin the Christmas preparations to lift their spirits. Not Loki. Either due to his true identity or the compulsive desire to be different from Thor, he found beauty in greyish, rainy days, rotting, blackish leaves and the sense of melancholy and ending. The worse the weather was, the more depressed others seemed, the happier Loki was. He lazed around in Tony's bed, hidden under soft blankets, surrounded by candles and watched the raindrops on the window panes.

Perhaps the reason for his good mood was not only autumn but also the fact that he had his own

nightstand in Tony's bedroom now. That was a sign of progress. It has been almost a year since

they started sleeping together and three months since they have decided to become a couple.

During that time, Tony learnt how to cook whatever Loki wanted, mostly simple recipes. They

were determined to stay together, despite the general disapproval of Tony's friends. Cooking and the nightstand were a proof they could behave like normal people, regardless of what Thor or Steve Rogers thought.

'Do want to know what I would like to drink, Stark?'

Tony turned to face Loki and still couldn't believe how radiant Loki looked.

'Cocoa?'

'No, do you remember that weird drink with spices and milk I had last year when we first went out together?'

'I think you mean chai latte.'

'Yes. Can you make that?'

The answer was yes, even before Tony checked the recipe. Once he did, he realised the list of

ingredients was incredibly long and the only thing he has had already in his kitchen was milk.

'Let's go shopping! Maybe it'll rain!' Loki encouraged Tony in a peculiar way.

'Yeah, that's better than staying in bed on such a gloomy morning,' Tony muttered and reluctantly sat up. 'What a dreadful weather.'

'Yes, so lovely.'

The first thing to do was to grind all the spices together. Loki picked the most appealing cinnamon sticks, cardamon pods, cloves, peppercorns and star anise and placed them in a mortar. Tony sliced the ginger, opened the vanilla bean, scraped the seeds and put it all together with the other spices and ground them using a pestle.

'This reminds me of making potions, that was a memorable phase of my turbulent youth,' Loki

smiled, watching all that grinding and crushing.

'Yeah, an angsty, fierce young prince experimenting with herbs, I wish I knew that Loki.'

'All the trouble we could get in together, imagine.'

Tony transferred the spices to a pot, poured two cups of water, brought it to a boil and set the

timer for ten minutes. After that time, he added loose black tea and let the chai infuse. The bad

news was that they had to wait at least a couple of hours. No one wants weak chai latte that tastes like sweetened milk. The longer the waiting, the better the taste, both literally and metaphorically.

The next day, Tony strained the tea, added milk and brown sugar and slowly heated the mixture,

avoiding boiling. Nothing worse than a wonderful, time-consuming drink spoilt by milk skin. Loki kept asking how much longer it was going to take, both salivating and groaning in annoyance. The heavenly aroma of spices, warm milk and tea was impossible to ignore and they both deserved a reward for all that hard work.

Tony let Loki taste their chai latte before pouring it into glasses. 'Hmm,' Loki murmured instead of bursting with joy.

Tony tried the latte and damn, something was missing. The flavour was rich and comforting, yet it didn't taste like- 'Coffee! I forgot about coffee!'

A shot of espresso did enhance the taste. Loki confirmed that was what he wanted, spicy and

sweet, milky tea and coffee, all in one glass. Unlike the lattes available in cafés, the one Tony

prepared was not sickly sweet, Loki could identify all the flavours, mostly the spiciness of ginger and pepper. He took one more sip, felt the warmth spreading through his body. Outside the clouds threatened rain and Thor was somewhere in Midgard, ready to invade his brother's privacy. It didn't matter, Loki was in his safe haven, with his Midgardian and the chai he had helped to prepare. They still had months before another hideous spring and constant sunshine, Loki couldn't be happier.


End file.
